1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an improved system for automatically analyzing liquid to determine its organic carbon content.
2. State of the Art
It is often desirable to determine the concentration of organic materials in liquid or semi-liquid streams. For instance, in wastewater treatment systems it is quite desirable to determine organic loading of plant effluent in order to avoid contamination and pollution of the natural bodies which receive such effluent. For industrial process streams, it also is often desirable to make determinations of organic loading.
Dissolved or suspended solid matter in aqueous streams can be generally classified as either of an organic or inorganic nature. Elemental carbon is always present in organic substances but is not necessarily present in inorganic materials. Since techniques for quantitatively determining the total carbon content of a sample are well-known, such techniques can be used to measure organic loading if inorganic carbon is eliminated prior to analysis. U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,071 teaches a continuous system for eliminating inorganic carbonaceous materials from an aqueous stream and then quantitatively determining the organic carbon content of the residual.